Many clients come to us following an accident work worried not because they have suffered a painful and in some cases life changing injury but because they do not want to cause trouble for their employer or fall out with them if they make a claim.
It may be that their employer has agreed to pay them in full or found an alternative role to accommodate them following the accident.
This may seem enough at that moment but often when the actual financial losses are considered there are significant other losses which aren’t being compensated. It should be considered what would happen if you suddenly lost your job and found yourself looking for a new position?
All employers are required to have in place employer liability insurance precisely for when things go wrong. Most claims are dealt with by the insurers on the employer’s behalf.
Your employer has a duty to keep you safe at work and if they fail in that duty and you are injured you have a legal right to bring a claim for compensation.
The claim for compensation will include compensation for the injury and loss of earnings including if relevant loss of pension and or bonus, loss of chance at promotion or obtaining attendance bonuses. It will also include other out of pocket expenses you may have incurred such as travel costs, medication, prescriptions, wasted gym and club memberships, paid services such as cleaners and gardeners and the time of family and friends who may be assisting you in doing tasks you could not carry out due to your injury such as shopping, cleaning and childcare. If there is a real risk of redundancy and you being placed on the open labour market and being disadvantaged due to your injury there can also be a claim made for this disadvantage which is usually equivalent to around 6 months earnings which can then be saved.
In addition bringing a claim can help you access treatment, counselling and diagnostic tools such as x-rays or CT scans much more quickly resulting in a quicker prognosis and treatment and perhaps quicker return to work If appropriate.
Where there have been more serious injuries we usually find that employer’s insurers are keen to work with us using rehabilitation providers to help our clients with recovery and any assistance needed whether that be adaptions to their house or simply help with dealing with medical appointments and assessments.
If you are not being fully paid whilst absent once liability is admitted we can assist you in obtaining an interim payment.
Understandably clients are worried about losing their job if they claim. We have not found this to be an issue when claims are made. Generally the claim is submitted to the insurers who then deal with the claim. If someone is unfairly dismissed or have to leave because their employer makes it impossible for them to stay (constructive dismissal) there are employment claims that can be made in addition to a personal injury claim and we can advise you regarding this should that be necessary.
If you have been injured as a result of accident at work you have 3 years from the date of the accident to bring your claim against your employer although we would always advise a claim is started as soon as possible.
If you have been injured in an accident at work then please contact our friendly team for a confidential no obligation chat to discuss your options.
